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User blog:Linathan/Unit Spotlight: Void Walker Zenia
Zenia's Unit Spotlight is now updated, including the new changes and buffs Zenia received to her SBB and SP enhancements. Before and after thoughts are included to provide an overall basis on the unit after close analyzation. Summary It’s been a long time since I last made a Unit Spotlight. I apologize for all of the busyness throughout the past week. It was a rough ride with exams and, of course, the new Pokémon Sun and Moon hype. Thankfully, I got through all of that quite nicely and that freed up a little bit of my time. Finals are coming up soon, so Unit Spotlights will definitely not be on a daily basis or maybe even close. I’m sure everyone has been wondering where these spotlights have been, so I decided to do some work on probably one of the most controversial units ever released in the entire game, Zenia. Leader Skill Score: 9/10 Zenia provides a solid 100% Atk boost to the squad, which vastly helps in what her main role turns out to be: normal attacking. Combining this with hit-count buffs, including the extra hit count that Zenia provides on this Leader Skill, will help to boost the overall damage output immensely. Previously, Avani with her high 80% Atk boost along with the usual hit-count boost, but it didn’t compare much to Gaston’s incredible mono-Light squad potential. The 40% HP boost also helps to provide some decent bulk to the squad. This is practically the lesser premium version of Lasswell’s Leader Skill for starters. Zenia also adds in incredible BB utility with the 2-3 BC BB-on-Spark buff, which is just like Sirius’s SP-enhanced BB-on-Spark buff. It’s to the point where you don’t need a BB-on-Spark buff because 2-3 BC per spark is already enough to satisfy the squad’s needs. You could use Zelnite to fill in the other BB utility buffs, which is perfect considering he’s a significant normal attack supporting unit to use. Zenia also adds in the 120% Spark buff after performing 15 Sparks, which isn’t OTK-friendly, but it comes in handy in long battles, especially considering you’re bound to perform at least 15 Sparks over the course of two turns. Brave Burst Score: 8/10 Zenia packs in a lot of damage even with just her single-target attack. A 1000% damage modifier is quite the devastating damage packed into an attack that can focus on certain body parts or a certain enemy. It adds Def-ignore, which isn’t too shabby, and a 50% self-Spark buff to boost a little bit of her damage output. It’s not much unless you can spark her normal attacks very well, which may serve as a challenge. Zenia also adds 10 BC to everyone’s BB gauges. This is great considering this BB is probably what you’ll be using most to maintain a relatively good momentum. Super Brave Burst Score: 6/10 8/10 Before: And then we get to the biggest disappointment in probably all of Global Exclusive history. Zenia’s SBB provides a lot of inferior buffs that cannot even be enhanced, which includes the Spark buff. It stays as 100% and never changes. Then comes the BB Atk buff. It is nowhere to be found. This is probably the second unit to completely lose a buff from a previous evolution, with the first unit being Rozalia, who gets an insane overhaul in her buffs which replicate Charla in a very good way. Why are inferior buffs bad for Zenia? Main reason is that buffs can overwrite each other. Zenia’s 100% Spark buff has no place in the squad because there’s the 130% Spark buff that we’re always using (140% if using Ensa-Taya). There’s also the +1 hit count buff, which can be enhanced to +2. This is great, but why use this along with other inferior buffs when you can use Ark to provide a +2 hit count buff on his BB? Why waste 50 SP on something that is so easy to achieve without any SP investment on other units? This is wasted potential and it hurt Zenia a ton from 7* to Omni. Zenia gets a self 100% Atk buff, which is really nice, but why bother with this self buff when you can utilize tri-buffs? Sure, this self buff can stack with other normal stat buffs, but is it really worth sacrificing a bunch of squad buffs for one buff that is used only on this one unit? Not worth it in my honest opinion. In fact, you’re better off not using Zenia’s SBB at all. Zenia’s SBB buffs are inferior in every way possible. You could put the AoE normal attack investment since Zenia is currently the only Omni unit that can utilize this. You would have to work around with the buff orders as Zenia’s buffs are to not be applied to other units since they buff-clash so much. ---- After: So Zenia finally got a buff after much rage and salt from r/bravefrontier, Wikia Discussions, you name it. I did mention some mistakes in my initial thoughts on Zenia's SBB before she got buffed, considering Zenia is not the second unit to lose buffs. Zenia is more rather the first unit to ever lose a significant buff such as BB Atk. Units like Alice and Rozalia lose their ability to inflict status ailments and Elza lost her ability to provide Light mitigation on her UBB, but they turn into something that is rather more threatening. Zenia gets an upgrade from a 100% Spark buff to a 130% Spark buff, which means that she doesn't have to buff clash with other Spark buffers anymore. There is no need to carry another Spark buffer just to get the highest Spark buff. Zenia is also one of the only units that provides a 130% Spark buff without requiring any enhancements. Considering two of Zenia's enhancements got a revamp from 50 SP to 30 SP, this opens up some more options for Zenia. You still have to use up 30 SP to make her SBB more viable considering Zenia only buffs +1 hit count before enhancements. If you wanted to make Zenia viable to replace Soleil, you'd have to spend a total of 80 SP, which doesn't even include the hit count damage boost, only including the +2 hit count and the AoE normal attack buff. If you wanted to fulfill all three buffs, which are the +2 hit count, hit count damage boost, and the AoE normal attack buff, you'd have to use two Zenias to fulfill that. Unfortunately, there is no way in obtaining a second Obsidian Core Amplifier, which would mean that the second Zenia would lose on a good portion of her normal attack damage. These improvements definitely helped Zenia's SBB become more viable. The previous method of damage output can still be used while Ark or Soleil may be used as the buffer instead. Ultimate Brave Burst Score: 9/10 Zenia's UBB is probably the part of her that really defines her squad role. Unfortunately, it loses the BB Atk buff like her SBB does, but that’s not what this UBB is about. Now that we’ve defined her as a normal attack buffer, let’s take a look at what this UBB provides. Instead of a BB Atk buff, Zenia gets a 300% Spark buff, which is really good and, in fact, better than the BB Atk buff. The Spark buff is a multiplicative bonus compared to the BB Atk buf, which is additive to the base damage calculation formula. Not only that, the Atk buff gets a 100% improvement from 7* to Omni, which compensates a fifth of the BB Atk buff lost. Most importantly, Zenia provides a +3 hit count buff, which stacks with other hit count buffs, vastly increasing the damage output of normal attacks. Extra Skill Score: 8/10 This Extra Skill is probably what makes Zenia one of, if not, the best normal attacking units in the entire game. Zenia is the first unit to have two extra normal attack hits added via Extra Skill. This also doesn’t count the other hit count spheres that Zenia can equip as a second slot, such as Shiny Anklet, Dragon’s Amulet, Ka-rzn’s Excruciation, and Sacred Dagger. Zenia also gets a sweet 30% all stats boost to give her more all-roundedness in her stats. She does lose the 10% all stats that she would’ve gotten from spheres like Beiorg’s Armor and Armor of Seals, but since Zenia is centralized on nuking, this won’t matter much. A lot of this can be fixed with the usage of conversion buffs to compensate for the small loss in stats. Arena Score: 9/10 Zenia packs quite the punch with her normal attacks, which has its use in normal Arena, but not so much in Colosseum. Fortunately, Zenia gets some enhancements that help support her in terms of survivability, but with Mifune squads out there, it’s not much to help Zenia survive well. Though, that’s not to say that she’s useless. Her normal attack Leader Skill helps boost the damage output of all of your units, which will ultimately allow your units to break off one layer of Angel Idol buffs, leaving everything else to pure RNG with whether or not the second layer of Angel Idol buffs proc. However, this leaves the squad with significant holes to cover, as units need to rely on their own Angel Idol buffs that come from either their enhancements or Extra Skill to survive. Stats Score: 10/10 Monstrous Atk stat, along with average HP, Def, and Rec. In terms of typing, my type preference for Zenia is… Breaker > Anima > Guardian > Oracle > Lord Usefulness Score: 9/10. While Zenia’s SBB took quite a toll on her, Zenia is really not bad of a unit. Sure, she’s very situational since normal attack squads are quite specific in terms of what they require, but it opens up some potential combos that don’t even require the usage of BB or SBB to perform well. Note that Zenia and Soleil add four extra hits at 100% damage and three hits at 200% damage. That’s about a +1000% normal attack damage bonus and that doesn’t even include the Atk buffs. When it comes to comparisons, people think of Ark and Soleil. Those two units are helpful partners for Zenia, as she is really only going to be normal attacking or using BB most of the time due to the inferiority of her SBB buffs. Zenia is what helps squads in most content that requires single-target focusing, which is prevalent in raids, select trials, and even GGC. SP Enhancements Score: 8/10 See SP Enhancement Options: Void Walker Zenia Before: I’m not the biggest fan of the enhancements on Zenia, as much as I’m not a huge fan of the changes made on Zenia’s SBB. On the bright side, this centralizes on certain options that are worth taking and it lessens on the amount of builds recommended. Zenia’s passives are amazing. They are cheap and they add a lot to Zenia’s normal attack damage. However, the buffs that she gets are what make her extremely cost inefficient. Her normal attack buff enhancements cost a whopping 50 SP each, which means you can only fit two of them in your lineup. This leaves absolutely no room for any other enhancements that may be worth using. Another thing that cripples Zenia heavily is the lack of a Spark buff enhancement. Zenia is stuck with a Spark buff that was considered the best during the end of the 7* era and that’s ridiculous. Having a 7* baseline of buffs on a unit already pushes her behind the many other units that have high efficiency with their buffs. ---- After: Zenia's +2 hit count buff and normal attack damage buff now cost 30 SP instead of 50 SP. Before, if you wanted to make Zenia's SBB more viable, you'd have to use up all 100 of her SP on two buffs. Now, with the new changes, this opens up some more options for Zenia. This doesn't necessarily mean that Zenia is a god-tier hit count buffer with the adjustments made to her SP costs, but it more rather gives more of a reason to use her SBB. Her SBB still doesn't have to be used, as 30 SP is still rather a bit expensive. Even then, you still can't utilize the AoE normal attack buff, the +2 hit count buff, and the normal attack damage buff all in one Zenia, as it sums up to 110 SP. Zenia still doesn't have a Spark buff enhancement, but it's not necessarily anymore now that her SBB Spark buff is now buffed to 130%. The score still remains the same, as previous methods are still effective even with the adjustments made to her SP costs. Sphere Recommendations *Obsidian Core Amplifier & Dragon's Amulet *Obsidian Core Amplifier & Shiny Anklet *Obsidian Core Amplifier & Ka-rzn's Excruciation *Obsidian Core Amplifier & Sacred Dagger *Obsidian Core Amplifier & War Demon's Blade *Obsidian Core Amplifier & Reign Omega *Obsidian Core Amplifier & Reign Alpha *Lexida & Dragon's Amulet *Lexida & Shiny Anklet *Lexida & Dragon's Amulet *Lexida & Reign Omega *Lexida & Reign Alpha Conclusion Total Score: 8.7/10 Zenia is still one of my favorite units. Despite the score, there’s a lot of potential in her kit, but it’s more of whether people see the real use behind Zenia. Old Poll: How do you feel about Zenia’s Omni Evolution? Amazing! Interesting. Could be better. It sucks. ---- New Poll: How do you feel about the new changes made to Zenia's Omni? Amazing! Interesting. Still could be better. Still sucks. Comment below on what you think of Zenia! How do you feel about the changes made to Zenia? Favorable or unfavorable? Leave a comment below! Check out my list of analyses in Spotlights: Table of Contents! Check out my other Unit Spotlights: *Knight of Holy Light Ark *Obsidian Seraph Zenia *Gaston *Algor Halcyon Selena Category:Blog posts